FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 21, 2022
Queens Man Indicted for Stealing School Bus, Crashing into Numerous Vehicles and Causing Injuries to Other Drivers
Defendant Allegedly Ignored Police Orders to Stop, Fled with Officers Holding on to Bus
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Queens man has been indicted for attempted assault, reckless endangerment, grand larceny and related charges for allegedly stealing a school bus in East Flatbush and driving recklessly across multiple police precincts, damaging property and other vehicles and injuring other drivers.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant caused mayhem across several neighborhoods when he allegedly stole a school bus and crashed numerous times before being stopped by police. Luckily, he did not cause more serious injuries or death. We will now seek to hold him accountable for his reckless actions.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Anthony Reyes, 43, of Jamaica, Queens. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo on a 43-count indictment charging him with first- and second-degree attempted assault, third- and fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal mischief, first-degree reckless endangerment, and related charges. He is being held on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash and was ordered to return to court on March 11, 2022.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on December 2, 2021, at approximately 1:30 p.m., the defendant stole an unoccupied school bus, with keys in the ignition and the engine running from the driveway of a house on East 51st Street in East Flatbush in the 67th precinct. A call was placed to 911 to report the stolen bus, along with its GPS location.
Within a short period of time, it is alleged, police officers saw the bus parked in the 75th precinct, near 138 Jackie Robinson Parkway, with the defendant in the driver’s seat. Police approached the vehicle and the defendant started to drive away, even though one officer was holding on to the vehicle. Eventually, the officer let go as the defendant fled in the bus.
Within approximately 30 minutes, it is alleged, in the confines of the 73rd and 75th precincts, the defendant rammed into the side of a building and continued driving. He then allegedly rammed into multiple vehicles, both parked and in the middle of the street stopped at a traffic light. Two of the vehicles still had individuals inside during the impact. One of the vehicles he struck was occupied by a woman, and police managed to pull her out of the vehicle before the defendant allegedly struck it a second time, dragging the vehicle down the street. Eventually, the defendant was apprehended by police in the confines of the 75th precinct.
As a result of the incident, multiple people suffered injuries.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Aleena Peerzada and Kaitlin Kinsella of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Theresa Shanahan, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.